Family Remains S4
by Bad Day at Black Rock
Summary: Humans are more often than not much more disturbing than ghosts.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: These fics are based on real episodes from Supernatural. The characters and plots belong to the creator and writers for the show. If you want background on the new character you can read the previous episodes.

Family Remains

They parked in front of an old farmhouse. The place was in the middle of nowhere and looked like it had seen better days. A big house, but the paint was chipping, boards were cracked, widows covered in dirt, the works.

Kayla tilted her head as she got out. "Anyone else having Shining flashbacks?"

"Nah, this will be cool." Dean answered as he jimmied the lock. "Three bedrooms, two baths, one homicide."

The house had been completely emptied and cleaned as well as it could; the floors and walls were in about as good a condition as the outside of the house.

"The needle's all over the place." Sam held up the EMF.

Dean glanced out the window. "We got power lines." Basically rendering the EMF useless.

Sam opened a closet door in one of the bedrooms to find the head of a doll, covered in aged dirt and all the hair had been cut off. "Ugh."

Dean looked in. "Well that's super disturbing."

"Maybe it got left behind."

"By who? Unless Bill Gibson liked to play with doll heads."

"Yeah," Kayla replied. "'Cause _that_ would be the weirdest thing we've seen." She looked up and went to the window when cars were heard outside. "We got company."

Dean looked out the window. "I thought you said this place was still for sale."

"Apparently it's not."

"How are we doing this?" Kayla sifted through a pile of ID badges.

"County Code Enforcement." Dean held one up.

"Asbestos?"

"Gas leak."

"Hell let's just double up."

It was a cute family really, husband and wife, two kids, friendly uncle and the dog to top it off. They looked nice enough. Normal anyway. They bought the health code violation and went to stay in a hotel for the night. Now they were on a deadline.


	2. Chapter 2

The interview with the housekeeper was short and simple. She'd been cleaning the house for five years, said that Gibson was a private man and she didn't know him very well. She blamed his attitude on the fact that his wife had died giving birth, and his daughter hung herself in the attic twenty years later. The reason behind the suicidal was unknown.

By the time they got back to the house that night, the family was there and already settled in. It seemed they wouldn't take asbestos for an answer.

"What do we do?" Dean looked at the fully lit house.

"We could tell them the truth." Sam stated.

"Really?"

"No, not really."

"Well obviously they're not buying the code enforcement, so our cover is pretty much blown." Kayla propped her feet up on the dashboard.

"Kayla what's on your neck?" Sam asked.

"Where?" She swatted at the back of neck, bugs, ugh.

Dean laughed at the reaction. "I think he's referring to your tattoo."

"Oh." She laughed quietly and brushed her hair out of the way. "I don't feel stupid at all then."

Sam leaned forward and got a closer look. "Is that…"

"Permanent." Dean stated with a smirk, almost a bragging tone.

"Wow."

Screaming was heard from inside the house. Time to go to work.

Dean was the first through the door. "We heard screaming, what's going on?"

"What?" The family was gathered in the living room, the father turned towards them angrily. "Did you touch my daughter?"

"What? No." Dean was insulted. Gratitude was so hard to come by these days.

"Who are you guys?"

"Relax, please." Sam held his hands up. "You have a ghost."

"A ghost?"

"I told you!" The daughter yelled.

"It's the girl!" The son followed. The chaos was making their heads hurt.

"What are you guys playing?"

"You're family is in danger, you need to get out of the house now." Dean stated, no more time for pleasantries.

The lights went out throughout the house.

"Nobody move!"

"What the hell?"

The dog was heard whimpering from somewhere outside.

"Buster!" The boy ran after the noises.

What part of don't move don't they understand?

Then _everyone_ needed to rush outside. There was a trail of blood going through the grass all the way to the moving trailer, where _Too late_ was written across the side. The father yelled for the kids to be taken back inside and turned towards them, ready to listen.


	3. Chapter 3

Though resistant, the father and his brother were ready to evacuate the family. The only problem was, this ghost slashed all the tires, took all their guns and all the supplies. No one was going anywhere. When they started talking salt circles and ghost hunting, things really got hostile. Unfortunately it was their job to save them, whether they liked it or not.

"Hey, Fonzie." Ted, the uncle, spoke towards Dean. "This indestructible force field made of salt? This stuff gotta be kocher or what?"

"Knock it off Ted."

Dean took a breath, Sam should have been babysitting while Dean checked the attic. He was better with people. The door creaked.

"What was that?" The daughter's voice trembled as she backed closer to her mother.

"Everyone just stay calm." Kayla tried to be soothing. "Stay inside the circle, and you'll be fine."

They backed up as the little girl came closer to them. She was pale as a ghost for sure, and covered in dirt head to toe. She did hesitate at the line of salt and a long blade slid down from her sleeve. A ghost with a knife now. Then she surprised the hell out of Dean and Kayla by stepping across the line.

"I thought you said ghosts can't cross salt!" Ted yelled, suddenly a believer.

"They can't, she's not a ghost!"

"Shoot her! Shoot her!" He yelled.

"Yeah, about that." They didn't have any guns. "Run, Kayla, get them out!"

"Come on!"

The girl screamed and attacked Dean with the knife, Kayla led everyone around the scuffle and out the door. This just got ten shades of crazy.

When Sam and Dean jogged down the steps Kayla met up with them. "So what the hell?!"

"She's human, we just don't know who the hell she is."

"Did you find anything in the attic?"

"Just a bunch of old junk, I found Rebecca's diary, that's about it."

"Gather them up." Dean told Kayla. "Crazy or not she's just a human, they can make a run for it. We'll hold her off."

She nodded and ran around the side of the house. Everyone was accounted for…except Danny, the youngest. He'd gone missing.

"We'll find Danny, I promise you. But now you have to go, take Kate and go!" The man told his wife.

"No, the safest place for you now is the shed." Dean pointed to an old shed. "Just until we find Danny."

Kate, the teenager shook her head. "I'm not going in there."

"Yes you are! It's the best defense!"

Susan took her daughter to the shed while the rest of them went on a search for Danny.

Dean and Kayla had the pleasure of Uncle Ted's company. They found the passage in the closet that the girl had disappeared in to and stepped through to a narrow opening between the walls. Dean stopped when he came to a small hole in the floor, there seemed to be a space below the ground, maybe an old basement.

Kayla peered around him. "Alright move." She squeezed past him.

"You're not going down there."

"I can fit through there, easy."

"There's no way…"

She slipped down through the hole before he could argue. "Can I get a flashlight?" She smiled when she heard his heavy sigh and caught the flashlight. "Thank you!"

"Be careful."

She shone the light around, the first thing she saw was a dead rodent hanging from the ceiling, yuck. Followed by…_augh._ "I found Buster."

"Your girlfriend?" Ted asked him.

Dean nodded, looking down through the hole.

"How can you stand her doing this kind of stuff?"

"I couldn't get rid of her if I tried. Kayla you find anything?"

"Just what she's been eating, or what's left of it."

"That's nice." He saw a movement behind Ted and shoved him aside. The girl attacked him with her knife and he kicked her in the stomach, making her fall back and drop it. When she saw him pick it up she ran away. "You okay dude?"

"Yeah." Ted brushed himself off. "Thanks."

"Kayla she's around here! Get up here!"

"Yeah yeah…" She walked over and held up a hand, Dean pulled her up.

"Let's regroup with Sam."


	4. Chapter 4

They left Ted back with his family while Sam joined them in finding this kid. He'd found out who it was at least, from reading Rebecca's diary. Turns out Rebecca had a baby.

"Why would she kill herself after the baby?"

"Maybe because her dad called her a dirty little whore and said he would lock the kid up where no one would see it, ever?" Sam handed her the diary.

"Why would he say that?" Dean paused and read his look.

"Augh." Kayla shuddered.

"Oh gross."

"Yeah."

"Daddy was the baby-daddy too?"

"Dude was a monster."

"Humans man. So she's been caged up like an animal then just busts out, ganks dear old daddy, slash granddaddy." That was some Jerry Springer crap right there.

"Looks like it."

"Can't say I blame her."

"I'm sure her life was hell, that doesn't give her a free pass for murder Dean."

"'Cause you know what hell's like."

"That's not what he meant." Kayla butt in. "Let's just find this crazy kid and kill her already."

"I think I know where to find her."

The dumbwaiter they saw the previous morning was probably sealed over when the house was redone to sell. It was the most likely place that Gibson fed the girl without anyone knowing about her. They tore through the plaster and peered down the shaft.

"Danny? Danny we're coming for you!"

"Watch out, let me though." Danny's father was suddenly behind them.

"No." Dean stated. "I told you I would get him and I will. Let me."

Kayla wouldn't even argue with him, he really wanted this part and she'd give it to him.

Dean jumped in and scaled down the wall. It didn't take him long to find Danny, bound and gagged. He quickly cut him loose.

Danny ripped off his gag. "Hurry, he's coming back!"

"He?"

"Her brother!"

Suddenly Dean was knocked aside and Danny ran for the light. Sam pulled him up with some curtain rope.

"Take them outside, make sure everyone is okay." Sam said to Kayla, assuming from the struggling sounds that Rebecca's daughter was with Dean.

She nodded and went outside with them but screaming was heard from the shed. They rushed to get to it, the girl was attacking the place with violent abandon, trying to take it down.

"I'll kill her." The man started to run but Kayla caught up and grabbed him.

"Just stay back!"

"That's my family!"

"Have you ever killed anyone?!" She grabbed a shovel from the side of the house. "You don't want to."

Kayla slowly walked around the shed, trying not to alert the girl. She watched her bust a panel of metal loose and climb inside, Kayla quickly grabbed her by the ankle and jerked her out. Before she could turn she hit her over the head with the shovel. She lay motionless on the ground, but she was breathing. Kayla pulled the knife from her boot and drove it into her chest.


	5. Chapter 5

"You know, I felt for those sons-a-bitches back there." Dean grimaced as he put the greasy burger aside. He wasn't even hungry. "Lifelong torture turns you into something like that."

"You were in hell Dean." Sam said.

"For forty years. Those kids were like, ten."

"You're not them." He agreed.

Damn if this didn't sound like group therapy. "You're right, I wasn't like them. I was worse. They were animals defending territory. Me? I did it for the sheer pleasure."

"What?" Sam looked at him, a little dumbfounded.

"They took me off the rack, and I tortured souls, and I liked it. All those years, all that pain, and finally getting to deal some out myself? I didn't care who they put in front of me. Because that pain I felt, it just slipped away."

The confession admittedly made Kayla uneasy, but she was still taking his side. "It's not like you had a choice Dean. They said torture or be tortured, there was no door number two."

He shook his head. "But I liked it. No matter how many people I save, I can't change that. I can't fill this hole. Not ever."


	6. Chapter 6

That night he could feel her looking at him, her questioning eyes boring into the back of his head. Once again he wished he was Sam, that he could read the words going through her mind. Or maybe he didn't want to this time. Maybe she was disgusted, she should be. A normal person would be.

"Just say it. Say how horrible it is and get it over with."

"It's not that, I just…I guess I don't understand. I wasn't there."

"But?"

She sighed quietly, the question looming in the back of her mind. "You said you didn't care who they put in front of you. What if…what if it was just some poor guy like you? Someone who sold their soul to save someone else's life? Someone who didn't deserve to be there?"

"Didn't matter." He said flatly, then softened his tone. "You can hate me a little, it's okay."

"I don't hate you."

"You hate what I did."

She paused, trying to decide if he was actually right. Hate was a strong word. "I'm not in a position to judge you, much less hate actions I don't understand."

"Someone has to hold me accountable."

He went to take a swig out of a bottle of Jack but she held his wrist. "The only person who can hold you accountable is God, and he ordered you to be saved. He forgave you."

He was still eyeballing the bottle, he couldn't even look her in the eyes.

"Dean I love you."

"You shouldn't." He reached out and took her wrist, the one that had been injured by Alastair. He stared to unwrap it.

"Yeah? What are you gonna do about it?"

His shoulders shook with a small laugh and his mouth turned up in a half-smile. "Nothing." He shrugged. "Since I'm already used to having you around and everything."

But she couldn't smile, not with the questions and situations running through her mind. "I wish I could make it easier on you."

"I know." His fingers tenderly kneaded up and down her hand and wrist, making sure nothing was sore.

She reached the hand up and stroked his neck. "You can still get away from everything once in awhile."

"Thank God for that." He agreed quietly and kissed her, he needed it right now.

_Slipping into the series THIS weekend, an original fic including all the main players…In Spite of All the Damage_


End file.
